Ambition, snobbery, obsession, secrecy, guilt, and shame are undercurrents here. Like Dickens, who taught himself with books from the library, Pip tries desperately to become educated and less coarse by teaching himself. Yet there is no escape from his prison, the forge, and Pip feels guilty that he hates the forge so much. Ambition can be a good force unless the motive is only to please another — Pip knows in his heart that pursuing Estella is wrong but he cannot let go. Biddy tries to get Pip to understand that striving to please a woman who despises you is a mistake, but she astutely sees it is a lesson that the “student” cannot learn.
Pip has become a snob, so wrapped up in himself and Estella that he fails to see the wonderful person Biddy is. For all his book-learning, he is ignorant in human relationships. He repeatedly puts Biddy down such as when he is surprised at her level of knowledge. Biddy gracefully stands up for herself, yet she is hurt and quickly knows the score. She remains kind but tells Pip they will never be together, something that annoys him. Pip wants everything. He wants Estella, but wishes he could love Biddy. He does not care about Biddy, but does not want her to reject him. He is jealous of the attention Orlick pays her, so he tells her he would not think much of her if she encouraged him. And he is not smart enough to realize he has no right to judge or dictate anything to her. Pip is a mess. He does, however, have moments of insight, such as when he comments that he “felt vaguely convinced that I was very much ill used by somebody, or by everybody.” He is being used, even if at a distance, by Miss Havisham, Estella, Mrs. Joe, and Pumblechook. His true self realizes that something is wrong, but he just cannot see it yet.
